Up to date on the use of triptans for child and adolescent migraine: “the state of the art”

The introduction of triptans, in the early 1990s, has improved the therapy for acute migraine attack, offering a new quality of life for those patients who suffer from this disabling neurological disorder. Epidemiological data point out that about 10% of school–age children suffer from migraine, with a progressive increase in incidence and prevalence up to the threshold of adulthood. The increase in extent and prevalence of migraine from the years of growth stresses the importance of the application and adjustment of ad hoc therapeutic (either pharmacological or not) and diagnostic measures. Indeed, the peculiar neurobiological and psychological aspects which are typical of an “evolving” organism preclude the use, by simple “transposition” or “proportion”, of the knowledge acquired from adult–targeted studies. That requires the implementation of studies to analyze the specific responses of children and adolescents to the triptans. To date, the studies on such issues are absolutely insufficient to draw definitive conclusions and indications for the use of triptans for child and adolescent migraineurs

Metacognition and headache: which Is the role in childhood and adolescence?

Headache, in particular migraine, is one of the most frequent neurological symptoms in children and adolescents and it affects about 60% of children and adolescents all over the world. Headache can affect several areas of child’s functioning, such as school, physical activities, peer, and family relationship. The global and severe burden of this disease requires a multidisciplinary strategy and an effective treatment addressed all of the patient’s needs and based on cutting-edge scientific research. In recent years, research has focused on cognitive factors specifically in functions called metacognitive processes. Metacognition can be defined as the knowledge, beliefs, and cognitive processes involved in monitoring, control, and assessment of cognition. Metacognition seems to be closely related to the ability of theory of mind, the ability to infer, and reason about the mental states of other people in order to predict and explain own behavior. Recent studies found a relationship between metacognitive skills and anxiety, depression, motivation, academic performance, human social interactions, and stress symptoms. This relationship is very interesting for headache treatment, because these factors are the most commonly reported triggers in this disorder and there is a high comorbidity with anxiety and depression in children and adolescents with headache. So, headache and these comorbidities, in particular anxiety and depression, may have in common persistent and maladaptive patterns of thinking which are related to maladaptive metacognitive beliefs. Further research should assess metacognitive processes of children and adolescents with headache in order to increase their ability to control their own cognitive processes and consequently monitor factors which may trigger the attacks

Structure of the magnetoionic medium around the FR Class I radio galaxy 3C 449

The goal of this work is to constrain the strength and structure of the magnetic field associated with the environment of the radio source 3C 449, using observations of Faraday rotation, which we model with a structure function technique and by comparison with numerical simulations. We assume that the magnetic field is a Gaussian, isotropic random variable and that it is embedded in the hot intra-group plasma surrounding the radio source. For this purpose, we present detailed rotation measure images for the polarized radio source 3C 449, previously observed with the Very Large Array at seven frequencies between 1.365 and 8.385 GHz. We quantify the statistics of the magnetic-field fluctuations by deriving rotation measure structure functions, which we fit using models derived from theoretical power spectra. We quantify the errors due to sampling by making multiple two-dimensional realizations of the best-fitting power spectrum.We also use depolarization measurements to estimate the minimum scale of the field variations. We then make three-dimensional models with a gas density distribution derived from X-ray observations and a random magnetic field with this power spectrum. Under these assumptions we find that both rotation measure and depolarization data are consistent with a broken power-law magnetic-field power spectrum, with a break at about 11 kpc and slopes of 2.98 and 2.07 at smaller and larger scales respectively. The maximum and minimum scales of the fluctuations are around 65 and 0.2 kpc, respectively. The average magnetic field strength at the cluster centre is 3.5 +/-1.2 micro-G, decreasing linearly with the gas density within about 16 kpc of the nucleus.Comment: 19 pages; 14 figures; accepted for publication on A&A. For a high quality version use ftp://ftp.eso.org/pub/general/guidetti

The magnetized medium around the radio galaxy B2 0755+37: an interaction with the intra-group gas

We explore the magneto-ionic environment of the isolated radio galaxy B2 0755+37 using detailed imaging of the distributions of Faraday rotation and depolarization over the radio source from Very Large Array observations at 1385,1465 and 4860 MHz and new X-ray data from XMM-Newton. The Rotation Measure (RM) distribution is complex, with evidence for anisotropic fluctuations in two regions. The approaching lobe shows low and uniform RM in an unusual `stripe' along an extension of the jet axis and a linear gradient transverse to this axis over its Northern half. The leading edge of the receding lobe shows arc-like RM structures with sign reversals. Elsewhere, the RM structures are reasonably isotropic. The RM power spectra are well described by cut-off power laws with slopes ranging from 2.1 to 3.2 in different sub-regions. The corresponding magnetic-field autocorrelation lengths, where well-determined, range from 0.25 to 1.4 kpc. It is likely that the fluctuations are mostly produced by compressed gas and field around the leading edges of the lobes. We identify areas of high depolarization around the jets and inner lobes. These could be produced by dense gas immediately surrounding the radio emission containing a magnetic field which is tangled on small scales. We also identify four ways in which the well known depolarization (Faraday depth) asymmetry between jetted and counter-jetted lobes of extended radio sources can be modified by interactions with the surrounding medium.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. Full resolution paper available at: ftp://ftp.ira.inaf.it/pub/outgoing/guidetti/ Subjects: Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO

Headache and alexithymia in children and adolescents: what Is the connection?

Background: Headache is one of the most common complaints in children and adolescents and comorbidity rates are very high and the major associated diseases are depression, anxiety, atopic disorders, sleep, and behavioral disorders. In recent years, it has been highlighted that difficulties regulating emotions such as alexithymia have also been associated with diagnosis of somatization. Methods: We carried out a mini review analyzing the relation between alexithymia and primary headache (e.g., migraine and tension type headache) in children and adolescents by synthesizing the relevant studies in the literature on PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar. Search terms were "alexithymia" combined with the "primary headache," "migraine," "tension type headache," "children," and "adolescents." Results: All analyzed studies found higher levels of alexithymia in children and adolescents with headache than control groups but there are different opinions about the relationship between headache and alexithymia. For example, some studies suggest that the association between headache and alexithymia in children may be due to an incomplete development of emotive competency or a general immature cognitive development, instead other studies found a correlation between headache symptoms, insecure attachment, and alexithymia. There seems to be also differences between children with migraine compared to those with tension type headache (TTH). Conclusion: There are some studies on adults suffering from headache or migraine and alexithymia, but there is only a moderate amount of research on pediatric age with different opinions and theories about this relationship. Further studies on children and adolescents are necessary to effectively understand this relationship and to help children to reduce headache and improve emotional consciousness

Ordered magnetic fields around radio galaxies: evidence for interaction with the environment

We present detailed imaging of Faraday rotation and depolarization for the radio galaxies 0206+35, 3C 270, 3C 353 and M 84, based on Very Large Array observations at multiple frequencies in the range 1365 to 8440 MHz. This work suggests a more complex picture of the magneto-ionic environments of radio galaxies than was apparent from earlier work. All of the sources show spectacular banded rotation measure (RM) structures with contours of constant RM perpendicular to the major axes of their radio lobes. We give a comprehensive description of the banded RM phenomenon and present an initial attempt to interpret it as a consequence of interactions between the sources and their surroundings. We show that the material responsible for the Faraday rotation is in front of the radio emission and that the bands are likely to be caused by magnetized plasma which has been compressed by the expanding radio lobes. A two-dimensional magnetic structure in which the field lines are a family of ellipses draped around the leading edge of the lobe can produce RM bands in the correct orientation for any source orientation. We also report the first detections of rims of high depolarization at the edges of the inner radio lobes of M 84 and 3C 270. These are spatially coincident with shells of enhanced X-ray surface brightness, in which both the field strength and the thermal gas density are likely to be increased by compression.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. Full resolution paper available at http://www.ira.inaf.it/~guidetti/bands/ Subjects: Astrophysics (astro-ph

Effects of add-on ultramicronized n-palmitol ethanol amide in patients suffering of migraine with aura. a pilot study

Background: Palmitoyl ethanol amide (PEA) is an endogenously produced substance showing anti-nociceptive effect through both receptor and non-receptor mediated effects at the level of different cellular and tissue sites. This study showed the results of a single blind study that was conducted to evaluate both the safety and the efficacy of ultramicronized PEA (umPEA; 1,200 mg/day) for up 90 days in patients suffering of Migraine with Aura (MA) treated with NSAIDs. Methods: A total of 20 patients, 8 male (33-56-years, average 41.4 ± 7.8) and 12 female (19-61-years, average 38.5 ± 11.9) with MA were admitted to our observation and diagnosed according to ICHD-3 criteria, they received umPEA (1,200 mg/day) in combination with NSAIDs for up to 90 days. They were revaluated at 30, 60, and 90 days after treatment. Results: umPEA administration induced a statistically significant and time dependent pain relief. In particular, these effects were evident at 60 days (male P = 0.01189; female P = < 0.01) and they lasted until the end of the study (male P = 0.0066; female P = 0.01473). Conclusion: Although further studies are needed, our findings indicate that in patients suffering of MA treatment with umPEA had good efficacy and safety which candidate this compound as a therapeutic tool in pain migraine management

The Spin Glass Phase in the Four-State, Three-Dimensional Potts Model

We perform numerical simulations, including parallel tempering, on the Potts glass model with binary random quenched couplings using the JANUS application-oriented computer. We find and characterize a glassy transition, estimating the location of the transition and the value of the critical exponents. We show that there is no ferromagnetic transition in a large temperature range around the glassy critical temperature. We also compare our results with those obtained recently on the "random permutation" Potts glass.Comment: 7 pages and 3 figures. Corrected minor typo

Critical Behavior of Three-Dimensional Disordered Potts Models with Many States

We study the 3D Disordered Potts Model with p=5 and p=6. Our numerical simulations (that severely slow down for increasing p) detect a very clear spin glass phase transition. We evaluate the critical exponents and the critical value of the temperature, and we use known results at lower $p$ values to discuss how they evolve for increasing p. We do not find any sign of the presence of a transition to a ferromagnetic regime.Comment: 9 pages and 9 Postscript figures. Final version published in J. Stat. Mec